superviser james camp, thank you for being here. also we have our president of the school board here, i think you're here some place. i'd like to droot treasurer of the organization who has done so much to make sure that all of us are here tonight and are able to celebrate on the weekend in may, carnaval. elena. >> thanks. on behalf of the san francisco cultural art trassdigs board of -- tradition board of directors, i'd like to thank everybody for being here today and it's been a lot of work but we're very happy

to tell you that carnaval is very strong and we will be having a great carnaval this year on may 28 and may 29. but -- [speaking spanish] also the co-chair of the cultural arts committee and without our volunteers we could not have any of the events that we put out throughout the year. i would like to thank a lot of our volunteers, hopefully i don't leave anybody out. if i do, please excuse me. i'm going to put on my funny

glasses. our president, check out his shoes. ok, so i would like to thank specifically monica and forest, two ladies in the back, i would like you to get up, please. these two ladies have been our life savers. they are always willing to volunteer for us for anything we ask them and we really thank you from the heart. we also like to thank janet. i saw her earlier. and also we would like to thank the pg&e, acknowledge the pg&e employees and their long-time sponsorship of us. they help us with the trucks and

in the parade and they also, this year we will have a large representation of them during the parade, too. there's a lot of them, that are in attendance. if you're a pg&e employee, please stand up. but with i know that there's quite a few of you in the crowd. i also will be remiss if i don't thank padron in pg & e who has helped us in every aspect of our carnaval. this year we're also going to have a group of employees from the p.u.c. that will help us with the parade and also some volunteers from john owe collin high school and we thank them

all. it is my honor and my pleasure to introduce to you somebody that i respect and think that we couldn't have a better mayor in this city. i have not been in touch with him for quite a while but in the last month it's been a couple of events that we've run into. i would like to introduce the san francisco -- [speaking spanish] , ed lee. >> thank you very much. welcome to city hall. i've been laughing for the last

15, 20 minutes because we're joking with the supervisors and of course supervisor campos had to ask me, what are you wearing for carnaval? and of course i said, well, i'll begin with the orange tie. is there anything else i have to wear? with that fantastic performance just now, with trash mashup, i was thinking, supervisor, you know, i've been thinking, i've got to have a replacement for that one-hour question-answer period at the board. i think i've got a better idea now what to do with that hour. instead of question and answer i'm going to invite trash mashup to cover me for those question-answers. all right. that was a wonderful performance. thank you very much. and also want to shout out to, as elena alluded, all of these wonderful cultural programs that we have, through funding for the

grants for the arts. but the beauty of them and the why they are successful is because so many community volunteers come out and they make it work and they make it happen. and i've been through so many of these performances and there's never enough money to pay for these things. it's all organic. it's very much community, very much commitment to the diversity of this city, to the cultural roots that this city has. and this has what's been making san francisco so successful and making sure that it's my philosophy here, that's what makes san francisco successful, that's why so proud of the diverse culture in this city and so proud to be the mayor of such a fantastic san francisco and when we begin the carnavals we are kicking off tonight and as we go through the month of may and begin all the festivities and the carnaval parade, i will continue to celebrate that this city and all of the things that

it attracts, the root of it, is our diversity. we don't just recognize it here. we celebrate it, we embrace it. we have appointment that we make, with the departments, with the way we budget, even with the way we have to balance the budget, we'll make sure that cultural diversity exists. thank you for coming here today. i stzsh i also want to recognize a lot of the commissioners here today. people like larry matter whon i've known for years and other commissions that are we see out here from all the different departments. they're also volunteers. thank you very much for being here as well. so with that, i want to kick this off the right way. i want to recognize those wonderful colored shoes. jim, the president of the san francisco cultural arts tradition, come on up here, jim. let's kick this off right.

we have of course a few things that i can do to celebrate besides just wearing a colorful tie. and working of course very closely with our board as well. supervisor, why don't you come up here? it's a shared proclamation. as you know, is supervisor jane kim out there? jane, come up. i will always thank the board of supervisors because i wouldn't be standing here without that kind of support from the board who made the historic vote to vote in the first chinese american mayor in the history of this city. i recognize that as part of this tradition. so i want to read a couple of things out to you here. it's worth reading. whereas 33 years ago a group of local musicians, artists and residents eager to bring the spirit of latin america and caribbean culture to san

francisco, created carnaval. and ever since this celebration has been one of our city's most spectacular traditions. and whereas the san francisco carnaval is produced by the san francisco cultural arts tradition, a nonprofit that strives to make multiculturalism a -- tangible reality by uniting people in celebration with music, dance, artistry and food and these endeavors continue to be a significant contribution to the vitality of our communities. whereas the theme of this year's san francisco carnaval, live your fantasy, i think that's what i'm doing, celebrates the magic of life in the san francisco bay area and our city's legacy of acceptance, tolerance and equality for all people. and whereas california's largest annual multicultural celebration, the san francisco carnaval, will take place in the historic mission district for its 33rd year to showcase the very best of latin america and

the caribbean cultures and traditions. now therefore be it resolved that i, ed win lee, along with the board of supervisors, in recognition of the celebration of our diversity, proclaim may 28 to 29, 2011, as carnaval weekend in san francisco! >> so, greetings. i would get to follow the mayor. well, of course let me start by saying to mayor ed lee, on behalf of san francisco cultural arts traditions, on behalf of the artists and per for mars that take part -- performers that take part in carnaval, in part of all the carnaval

community, we thank you very much for this proclamation and we are deeply honored that you showed up here today personally to present it. now, mayor lee, if you'll forgive me, i was told there would be a teleprompter. so i'm not that good of a speaker. just off the cuff, so i've got a couple of notes. and basically i want to make this brief because i want to get on to the performances but there are three things that i would like you guys to remember or to address. one is sort of why me? why s.f. cat? and why carnaval? so the first question, at least some people are asking, is why a half-white, half-lebanese guy from ohio heading up this organization? and i'll tell you, it was pretty easy, it just took 20 years of participation and commitment to the mission district and to the

carnaval community. i've been involved, my first -- i took part in 1991 and i performed as a dancer, a d.j., a drummer. i became king and i also performed with over a dozen groups including aqra rela who are going to perform today. i guess could you say i'm culturally curious. and fortunately for me san francisco is, in my opinion, and i've traveled quite a bit, this is the best place to be culturally conservative. i'm sorry, curious. did i say conservative? yikes. now, there's one little tidbit i'll offer you that you won't find on -- i don't know if supervisor avalos has arrived,

but you won'tfight find it on his web-page or wikipedia but i danced in a dance group with his wife and i d.j. their wedding reception. i'm going to ask him about putting that on the wikipedia page, though. but seriously, in terms of living your fantasy, from the bottom of my heart, my fantasy right now is living in a world where the president of our united states is the first african-american to hold that position, the mayor of san francisco is the first asian american to hold that position and i feel slowly, not quickly enough, but we are moving towards a society where your role in government, your role in society, your role in a cultural organization is not judged by the color of your skin, to paraphrase

[applause] now, as mayor lee -- i am going to talk a little bit about sf cal, which stands for san francisco cultural arts. carnaval, this has developed into the largest multi-cultural event in california. it includes the mission neighborhood center, which i served on the board for a couple of years, and now it is headed by the san francisco cultural arts tradition. i believe this is a very important situation, because sf cat is dedicated exclusively to

this event, much like the sf jazz festival has a dedicated organization, the monterey jazz has a dedicated organization. now, so do we. some people may ask, "why does a two-day event need an organization dedicated just towards that event?" and i think if there is just one thing that you all remember from today, it should be that carnaval is not a two-day event. carnavale is a year-round event. they teach dance, music, arts classes year round. these groups offer an outlet to adults, is structured learning environment for children, and a

way to embrace and pass on cultural positions -- a structured learning environment for children, and the way to embrace and pass on cultural things. we can help make music, arts, and dance classes available to children who might otherwise have those opportunities -- who might not otherwise have those opportunities. tomorrow morning, i will be attending a meeting put on by sf jazz director, rob beckert -- rebecca. we will see how we can collaborate in offering arts education. finally, what makes carnaval

special? i know i am preaching to those who know. carnaval is participatory. in other words, it is open to everyone. this is the beauty of it. for me, it is the regional social networking platform. i do not care who you are. there is a place for you in carnaval. there is a zimbabwe saying that says if you can walk, you can dance. it will help you find your singing voice, and it will help you find your dancing feet. carnaval is open. the brazilian groups of many non brazilian participants. and so on. if you are into the culture and like having fun, you are going to be welcome. it is diverse. i know that word is used a lot,

but i am at a loss for words. i have been to trinidad carnaval and brazilian carnaval, but i want to be in san francisco. finally, carnaval is good for you. dancing, building a float, they are good for your physical body and her spiritual happiness. so i just once again want to thank all of you for attending. thank mayor lee and all of the dignitaries' stt -- attendance, and now, one group is a point to be receiving an award for their 25-year presentation -- one group is going to be receiving

an award for their 25-year participation. can you come up? [cheers and applause] i have got to do a little bio on you. you have to be kind to me in my pronunciation of portuguese. i am still working on spanish. one is from brazil. she founded the dance ensembles under the auspices of the brazilian cultural association. it means "watercolor is" in portuguese and is known as a creative -- as creative costumes

-- cote "watercolors." there are three carnaval kings from their ranks. she is working at a preschool and is the way mother. today, we honor korea for being an ambassador -- we honor maria for being an ambassador of brazilian culture and dance for the san francisco bay area for 25 years. [cheers and applause] now, i believe we have a plaque for you, but i do not have it. give me one second, ok? uh, buh, buh, buh, buh, buh.

hold on one second. we are having technical difficulties. come help me. i am not sure where the plack is. i am going to give you some flowers, and i am going to pretend that i am handing you a plack -- plaque. now, next up is the group? ok. are you dancing? ok. sure. >> i would like to say thank you to all of you and for all of

the carnaval organization for letting us to brazilian carnaval here. thank you very much. [applause] all right, next up, we have a performance by a group, led by, trained by, maria and accompanied by a group. ♪

in her place, to take her award, zoie. she has been a student since age 6.

let me just tell a little bit about this. she was born in a small town in brazil. she studied folkloric dance, jazz, and ballet, and in the 1980's, she moved to san francisco and form her own dance groups. besides being the choreographer, she is also the director of little butterflies, the first and only brazilian dance troupe for children in the bay area. in 2007, they founded a nonprofit organization with the goal of promoting cross-cultural exchange between the united states and brazil and preserving and promoting traditional brazilian music and dance. today, we honor them for a quarter-century of dedication in preserving br